Re: Boston radio now-- or rather, Clear Channel radio now

["Matthew Osborne" <osbo1621@hotmail.com>]

IMHO, very well put and a sad commentary on the state of commercial radio 
today.  And what amazes me more than anything else about this is that our 
elected officials see absolutely nothing wrong with this state of operation, 
and refuse to do anything about it.  It is downright scary.  And then people 
wonder why I quit working in radio, very likely for good, just a few months 
ago.  What the hell kind of future does that industry hold for ANYONE, not 
just new people trying to break in, but even for seasoned veterans who have 
been working in radio for 10, 20, or even 30 years or more?  And how the 
heck are new people supposed to get started when everyone is so concerned 
about cost cutting and making record profit margins yesterday at the expense 
of hiring and even keeping human beings working in a programming department 
at your local radio station.  Why not just automate everything, heck nobody 
cares anymore about knowing whats going on in your community.  And 
absolutely nobody cares about hearing new music or any music whatsoever that 
hasn't tested well in some mini study conducted by one of the major radio 
station group owners in the country.  Nope, we need a sound that tests well 
in *ONE* city to repeat it in every other city where we own a particular 
radio station of that format, who cares if the music we play would actually 
test well in that particular community or not  -- okay that was a bit of a 
tangent, but after working as a little part timer for a year and a half in 
Rochester, NY, what I saw absolutely repulsed me.  And it is just sad, 
radio, even just a few years ago, looked like it was one of the most fun 
jobs to have.  But how can you bring that enthusiasm across in your on air 
product if you see all of this stuff going on around you in the industry, 
and then the next day you find out your station has been sold to Clear 
Channel and that the entire programming staff is being fired and replaced by 
either their nationally pre-frabricated "Kiss-FM" or "Mix" formats, complete 
with cyber jocking in all day parts from some city hundreds, if not 
thousands of miles away from where the station is actually located.  And to 
think that for the longest time I wanted radio to be my lifelong career, 
that I had something very special that I could offer not only my listeners 
but the industry as well.  I was willing to make the necessary sacrifices 
and all, until I saw how the industry as a whole is headed, and how, if this 
trend continues, standard radio as we know it, will become nothing but a 
page in a history book.  Looks like everything I have in me, all my 
ambitions dreams and whatnot about radio, is all for naught.  And this 
doesn't even begin to touch on the fact of how you are supposed to 
financially support not only yourself but maybe a family working in this 
kind of mess.  But thats a whole other can of worms that can be opened some 
other time...
    All in all, as long as commercial continues to head in this direction 
its heading in now, the business is in big trouble.  And what Clear Channel 
is leading other companies to do to the industry is absolutely cutting its 
throat wide open on top of everything else.  When are our elected officials 
gonna open their eyes, see what is really going on and do something about 
it?  From the looks of it, not for a long time, if ever.  And people in 
Rochester wonder why I so abruptly quit my job in radio and likely the 
industry for good...

<end of rant>

                                Matt Osborne
                                Hyde Park, NY


On Mon, 30 Apr 2001 01:12:52 -0400 Donna Halper wrote:

Anyone have an opinion on the brutally frank critique of Clear Channel in
salon.com?

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/04/30/clear_channel/index.html


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